squares up to three of the world's top earning corporations are accused of skirting around billions in taxes. from love triangle to pentagon problem a scandal that brought down cia chief david petraeus america's commander in afghanistan and washington claiming all the time it knew absolutely nothing. serious new patchwork opposition fails to get unanimous backing among arab states down to the fore in the form consoling the syrian people's interests.

a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at the moscow rule received shy hard pressed for cash and hurting from austerity britain is turning on tax avoidance to help make up its budget shortfall and is gunning for google starbucks first on the list the tax man wants to question them over. billions in revenue in britain but only paying taxes if any more on this i spoke a bit earlier. these are three companies that dominate the u.k. economy they have billions of pounds worth of turnover the but it looks like they pay very little corporation tax to show for it and now employees are outraged by the fact that through very legal loopholes these companies that they say are acting in an immoral way are managing to dodge millions and billions of pounds worth of tax every single year and they want to try and put a stop to it now what about i mean the companies we talk about this being called

immoral because how did the companies money used to contribute so little or nothing to the treasury without actually breaking the law so certainly a big mystery well it's all a case of financial trickery rory it's about getting clever accountants that find countries with more favorable tax rates to base a u.k. headquarters and so for example google base themselves in the republic of ireland that's way that that's where they sell their advertising space from starbucks abased in holland and amazon based in luxembourg so they managed to pay very little taxes through channeling their revenue through these countries parts of public reaction sure surely surely there must be a people the public or even m.p.'s who outspoken about this unfortunately rory for much of the ordinary public here in the u.k. it's just not funny anymore they say that you know austerity measures are taking hold that the public spending cuts in the public sent

a really making life difficult for people and we spoke to a few people out on the streets and this is what they told us if we're paying tax on things like. that we have to foot the bill for that i guess we're paying tax on coffee as well why should they not pay the tax that we. took i guess is up to something closely eighty. seconds you tend to see takes most of it is that. the think it's fair that you still buy starbucks coffee it's not this is some activists have already suggested a plan to highlight what they're calling this a moral behavior so if you have at least one of the companies what exactly has been suggested so far. yes well this. anti cuts group these campaign is against austerity measures here in the u.k. they say that in december they're going to launch a national day of action against starbucks what they're going to do is they're going to occupy the multitude of starbucks coffee houses that we have here in

london you walk down the street you see them everywhere and they're going to make them into the homeless shelter they're going to make them into refuges into creches because that they say that starbucks have these immoral tactics and they need to give back to society so they're going to be occupying these coffee houses but indeed it's not just the anti campaign as there's a general feeling among the british public that people want to boycott these new large amount multinational companies because of their immoral schemes in the way that they do just take from the public and very little back into the u.k. economy which as we know is struggling at the moment and really for people here in the u.k. very difficult to make ends meet at the moment so this is a topic that's rousing a lot of anger from the british public. to the political right there i spoke to her a bit earlier in the program and while britain hunts for tax avoiders to cover its deficit it's still austerity all the way for portugal the german chancellor personally reassured lisbon saying pay cuts and tax hikes painful will ultimately

save it for the republic of the kids are not buying this. fuss about you getting your debt mortgage arrears paid off no cost to the occupy movements grown breaking bail out to provide financial forgiveness for struggling citizens of us just ahead for you here on the program. for now as if losing cia director david petraeus over having an affair last week was in off now washington's chief commander in afghanistan has also become embroiled in the same scandal. last friday after admitting to infidelity. but the story does not. general john allen who commands nato troops in afghanistan is being accused of exchanging quote inappropriate e-mails with jill kelley the woman who competed for patricia's affections with his biographer what role journal and how and all of this remains in question but as aussies gun nature kind of reports that could be more than just

love in the air. paula broadwell general petraeus is biographer slosh mistress gave a speech last month and in that speech she revealed details about the bin gazi attack that were at that time unknown to the public she gave the speech at the end of october fifth now when everybody knows that she had an affair with a general many are guessing whether those details that she revealed in her speech were part of their pillow talk take a listen i don't know if a lot of you heard this but the cia annex had actually had taken a couple of libyan militia members prisoner in and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back so that it's still being vetted the challenging thing for general to translate is that in his new position he's not allowed to communicate with the press by the way the cia adamantly denies the allegations that they held prisoners at the consulate in benghazi and nobody at that point heard anything about the cia holding prisoners in benghazi but everybody knew about the access that paula broadwell had to the

general because she was his biographer now it turns out that she had an even greater access to the general when general petraeus was signed he cited his own extremely poor judgment and some are wondering whether that poor judgment was just about the affair or it could also be about having shared more with his mistress than just pleasant moments together there's another twist to this story apparently paula broadwell was not the kind to keep things to herself the f.b.i. were investigating her allegedly caressing e-mail sent to another woman who also happens to know general petraeus and as officials here are saying that's how they found out about the affair general petraeus was idolized. the public had to go through a similar trauma if you will with the other again and then general who was also idolized in many ways general stanley mcchrystal he fell from grace and resigned when the rolling stone magazine quoted him saying unflattering things about the administration or the media here of course we've seen all over the various scandals

when they learned that there was another woman involved it got them spinning all over again with her discussions about the level of the stall story in effect the man's judgment on all kinds of things they savored every detail of this story and one thing that was actually said to watch is that what the agency and i mean the cia is actually doing doesn't get that much coverage things like how they pick the targets because targeted assassination program things that the public should want to know if national security and it's secret but when he comes to the director's bedroom all of a sudden everybody wants to know and the media are there to question every detail of the affair as far as let's say collateral damage from cia drone strikes not as interested. and a former m i five intelligence officer says that patricia's downfall could actually be the result of infighting within the intelligence community. is that you need to

be pretty well written drama really if there was some sense that knowledge bomber has been elected for his time or one second term they can usually use the groom to speak the old regime senior generals who sort of move through the revolving door in military protection of the intelligence stations one of the points it took him to get much coverage of our triumph. is the fact that he has been very much i really. really pushing for the idea that there should be some sort of military action against iraq so there may well have been some sort of news really behind the scenes by other senior intelligence officers to try to get rid of someone that may we see is not tied to having a line which they don't agree with and which undermines their national state of community. and i will certainly be keeping you updated on how these high stakes in the high stakes story itself unfold so you can always catch up with it at all to dot com it's where there's also a poll about what you think of the timing of the sea coming up as for this hour an

hour to see how the vote so far shows that just over a third if you think the scandal is part of a manufactured effort to prevent betray us from testifying on the bring garci killings a quarter an hour saying it's part of a drive to recall the military's leadership affair with believing the election was at the root of it all and the affair was hushed up until after obama was reelected at about the same number see no link and that ultimately it was patricia's his own fault so you can have your say right now the home page of our team dot com. ten minutes past the hour moscow time the civil conflict in syria certainly sending strong ripples across the border were forced from lebanon just turned into a sectarian powder keg because of the bloody civil war on its doorstep that's in just a few moments. catalonia

wants to get its independence from the rest of spain locals feel that madrid texas of catalonia economic success is a way putting the region into debt trust me working hard only to have it all taxed away is very aggravating i can see why people are frustrated but the people who want independence have a very odd slogan catalonia a new european state so let me get this straight you want independence but you want to stay in the e.u. is that what you mean what exactly would that change that's not really gaining independence that shifting dependencies staying in the e.u. means you won't have control of your borders you'll still be on the euro so you won't have your own currency you'll be able to establish your trade standards those will be dictated to you by brussels and if you don't like the austerity measures from outsiders like in madrid then you might want have a conversation with the greeks because being an independent country in the e.u.

won't save you from people messing with your finances all i'm saying is that being truly independent means answer to no one not madrid not brussels but that's just my opinion. welcome to. science technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future covered. browser's. looks like you. may miss it in. day care my daddy. doesn't famous reuse benson played his own may save them. ransom business.

if you're just joining us welcome to the program here on our rule received a full international backing for syria's rebels potentially meaning more foreign arms and cash certainly something the newly formed opposition coalition is struggling to achieve and the gulf monarchies who pushed for the new set up rushed to proclaim it as the sole syrian people's representative but the wider arab league bloc doesn't quite see it that way our middle east correspondent paula syria has the story. the six gulf states have formally recognized the new syrian coalition as the official representative of the syrian people the foreign minister of qatar has said that this recognition will remove obstacles that will ultimately be able to secure arms for syrian rebels the coalition does look set to set up

a so-called government in exile if indeed this happens this will have the backing of western as well as arab states there are fears that this could set up a libya style scenario what we saw in libya was opposition fighters sitting themselves up as an alternative government that got the backing of the international community and ultimately led to nato airstrikes and foreign intervention so there are concerns that that might happen in syria there was also a number question about just how feasible the spy position group is really we're looking at a patchwork of various organizations here it is made up part of the rebel fighters as well as dissidents and people from all backgrounds and political affiliations it has been marred by bickering over the past few weeks and months indeed this is an organization that does not have internal unity what is important is that the arab league that is notably one of the most important bodies in the arab world has his

attorney welcomed this new coalition it does say that it is a prime rate negotiator but it has not gone as far as to say that it is the legitimate representative of the syrian people or to correspond of policy or there in the meantime a political analyst. says that the syrians would never want an opposition formed under pressure from the gulf in order to grab power. i'm glad to see that this collection of corrupt dictatorships is instructing the syrian people as to who their representatives ought to be how about the representatives of the saudi arabian people of the bahraini and people or people of qatar or charge of the arrest of these dictatorships so what would it outrage is that they're the course they're just a subsidiary of the pentagon and of the cia this is part of the long term plot by the u.s. by britain by france by turkey by israel and i'm no fan of assad i might say but.

things are much worse after gadhafi in libya they're going to be much worse if they succeed in overthrowing assad this opposition group was trained in turkey at various american air force bases there are many of them are libyan al-qaeda types other from other countries they're not syrians they're foreign fighters whatever is wrong with assad i think that the people of syria tend not to want outsiders to be telling them what to do they fear these so-called rebels just as much as they fear their own government and my guess is they don't want foreigners occupying and running their country of syria's bloody standoff as expose deep political and sectarian cracks in neighboring lebanon with a gun battle springing up daily in the northern part of the state capital for ports now from a nation hit by fierce clashes between ongoing warring groups. they share a determination to fight to the death but this isn't syria it's lebanon the conflict

has crept across the border leading to death and destruction here in tripoli we're standing here you can see the almost complete destruction of a home this is literally the front line of the. neighborhood in tripoli right across the street out the window in a neighborhood where the largely sunni community have been has been clashing with the largely allawi community that is based here it's actually not very safe for us to stand here we've been told by the owner of this apartment that they're still taking casualties and that the fighting could really flare out that at any moment out of range of the snipers we speak to the homeowner and allawi militia man the misery has only hardened his resolve to fight against neighbors who he says pose a mortal threat. these people have one objective and that is to have an islamic emirate in the north and militia organizations like hezbollah we won't give up arms as long as thought exists. this is been a flashpoint for years a sunni stronghold next door to an alawite community but strife in syria has

unleashed new sectarian tensions leading to the worst fighting since lebanon's civil war. is the spokesperson for the arab democratic party which has its own loyal militia here in. the acid regime falls that this area will turn into a dangerous product this is what we're trying to avoid. i asked him whether disarming might be an option to avoid more bloodshed. but we're not afraid while we were filming the lebanese army was overseeing a shaky cease fire but the sandbags are still out awaiting the next battle we're in the neighborhood as you can see behind me that is the area where the gunfire was coming down here people have been killed on both sides of this. this is one of the fighting positions this street. reacher heads a sunni militia here in tripoli has bubbled to been a slum front. showing off his

guns he says he's ready to use them again at a moment's notice. we are ready to defend ourselves and to fight for. sheikh mansour he accuses the syrian government of fermenting violence against the sunni's and that's why he says support for the uprising goes far beyond empathy. systems to the free syrian army then would do it within our capabilities if it is possible to give them a gun and some bullets then we're happy. however the syrian war plays out it's clear that the outcome will have repercussions far beyond its borders in tripoli the battle lines have been drawn and neither side seems willing to back down. r.t. tripoli lebanon. tori fire and appeals for nato protection find out of our t.v. dot com how israel and turkey are coping with serious cross border fire. both states drag the conflict right on their doorstep. the german chancellor

received an angry greeting in portugal where she came to support austerity measures gripping the country enraged crowds demonstrated in the streets blaming angle of merkel for the financial pain they continue to go through its artie's sara further faults many question why something that failed in other countries should be promised to work in portugal. these measures have been killing is due to give us no future it's only for carriage and employment and misery to many people becoming best but then it's almost like a visceral reaction a visceral reaction to these measures people that are getting angrier and angrier angela merkel says it supports the goal may have been as a sign of support for the scene daily to serve to highlight the. protestors message loud and clear way testers standing off against the royal police become very familiar protest gatherings in europe but perhaps not so familiar

portugal here until recently have been much more tolerant of the strict austerity measures that have been imposed on them but as you can see here portugal's patience is really running out with record levels of unemployment now at fifteen percent and the country about enter its third year of recession is becoming apparent the country persons has hate could be a southern european success story is now struggling to survive we talk about cuts to jobs we talk about the search measures what does it mean to be living through that right now in portugal it means i don't see any future for my child we are getting angry because the government don't care. about people put two goals not alone of course the stories of hardship are all across the usa in brussels finance ministers are desperately trying to come up with

a way to pull greece back from the brink of bankruptcy with athens having just approved yet another round of cuts this is the cause of the speech the capital the greek political class like the rest of the year. in a sense i think chris. christie of the you're not you're watching this i do. ology exert such a power over people that they are prepared to do things which by any rational measure obviously counterproductive in order to preserve the european project the euro in particular they are determined to do everything to keep the single currency intact even to destroy their own country and with greece's economic straits people are questioning just why portugal must follow the same ported rates the same many economists say it's deemed to end in failure. r.t.

there's been. and in another indebted to e.u. state that of italy at least twenty people have been injured in fierce clashes over unemployment violence broke out police trying to disperse over a thousand people outraged at rising job losses the euro zone's third biggest economy has been hit hard by the ongoing debt crisis authorities are now blaming their economic troubles on credit rating agencies prosecutors are looking to soon standard and poor's and fitch that downgraded italy's rating and less power lower phony says the firms often meddle in matters that do not concern. and they intervene on funding which is very much public and they go and we do the sovereign debt therefore it is very convenient that they do so. by some kind of. three when you silly me of the major.

reshoots why the market. and. how the market. but a possible solution as occupy activists in the united states have decided to show the world how to bail out properly the planning to buy up the deaths of those who can't afford to pay back and simply write them off. in a looks at how much the good samaritan moves my end up costing. haters must have been hoping that occupy wall street has fallen off the face of the earth or at least the face of the national arena this is not been the case at all for months now this strike debt project has been in the works occupy wall street has been trying to come up with a system where they can do what they can their share of the action to try to help so many americans who are just completely burdened by debt and what it entails is a buying distressed debt for pennies on the dollar and basically instead of

harassing. the people in that. debt buyers and debt collectors occupy wall street just goes and abolishes this debt it wipes it out completely and we caught up with the former wall street employee and now occupy wall street activists alexis goldstein and she broke it down for us take a listen normally like if you default on the loan there's all these collections agencies that can buy your debt and then they harass you harass you harass you and it's like three percent of the people they get the money from they they do ok because they buy the debt for pennies on the dollar so what we're doing is we're trying to buy a million dollars worth of debt which only cost fifty thousand dollars because it's pennies on the dollar and abolish it and so people will get a phone call saying you know instead of getting a phone call from a collections agency they'll get one phone call saying hey occupy wall street bought your debt it's been abolished the idea behind strike that they say that fifty thousand dollars could abolish a million dollars in debt but it's small donations that they're really counting on

twenty five bucks can abolish five hundred dollars one hundred dollars can abolish two thousand and it's important that we've seen the government of the united states bail out corporations with this particular idea occupy wall street is hoping that this is a bailout of the people by the people and they're hoping that this will start some sort of movement to really where people try to help themselves from the bottom up and just throughout the country. because i'm a world news for you here on our twitter posts of london and in jail in bahrain but activist thank you for the six month. as for defaming the king on the social network three other bahraini s. were earlier convicted of the same offense the crackdown against political dissent was also seen thirty one people stripped of their citizenship in the past week with claims that campaigning undermine security a massive reform protests have been a buck right now for nearly two years. the man described as osama bin laden's right hand man is free to walk the streets of britain radical muslim cleric abu qatada

was released on bail after seven years in detention without charge he's wanted in jordan on terrorism charges but rules forbid extraditing people to places where they won't get a fair trial it will cost taxpayers about five million pounds a year to supervise the cleric. next other survivors of the worst industrial disaster in history were dragged into a near thirty year battle for justice and that's often. a sacred place rising out of the waters of the lake the law ministry is home to one hundred fifty orthodox monks mostly younger than thirty five and this come from many different places and backgrounds to live in isolation here spiritual life it

takes so many hours on the road to becoming a monk requires both hard work and religious to the cation. alexei wants to become and heard as part of this preparation. however these beasts is a musical company. they can remember sound sequences you know they want to the sound signals the flutes the heard is heard in the old days they needed them it wasn't just a fun thing but these meadows didn't come naturally requiring decades of composting to bring the soil up to farming standard. this island is mostly rock. the soil here is very thin and the monks can just get more of it because they're surrounded by the lake so they have to work very hard in order to provide whatever food they need they grow their own crops found their own fish and repair their own churches but the central purpose of alarm has always been religious the main

ministry surrounded by smaller priories spread through the many archipelago the monks here know their existence is a little different from that of other ministries here we are out of the way and we do have. bill creams and sometimes tourists as well but no way. from korea to use is hardly. the. distant combination of high religion and down to earth hard work than motivates these men.